


Marks of Time

by cinnamoncandle



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-22
Updated: 2015-07-11
Packaged: 2018-03-25 07:13:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3801472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cinnamoncandle/pseuds/cinnamoncandle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(SDR2 spoilers) Waking up isn't easy when time has left so many scars on you. When your future crumbles, living on becomes more and more difficult. When Hinata wakes up from the simulation along with his friends, there's work to be done, questions to answer. But his eerie visions and nightmares are not helpful at all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue - March 14th

_"Okay, so how do we start?"_  
_Seven teenagers were sat in a dim room with unease. Their gazes wandered from one to another. A group that hoped to save the world, but not one of them knew how to create an artificial person._

 _"I think Fukawa is the most suitable person to take care of this, is she not?" Togami spoke after breaking the silence._  
_"Me?" The girls voice questioned, surprised._  
_"Indeed." Togami replied, his gaze sharp and thoughtful. "You're a writer, correct? You've created characters before, you should know how to design one."_

_"But that was different!" Fukawa shouted, only to immediately regret raising her voice. Embarrassed, she quickly looks at the floor, crest fallen. "I don't know if I can handle this."_

_"That's why we're all here for you." Naegi declared, smiling at her encouragingly. "You don't have to do this alone."_

_"Of course we'll help you!" Komaru said, sounding enthusiastic as ever. "Even amazing people like Fukawa-san sometimes need a little help from their friends."_

_Fukawa looked at everyone's faces. She shouldn't have doubts at moments like this. They had a very important task to complete, but still she couldn't help the feeling of uncertainty that flooded her from head to toe. But they were right. They were her friends. Her friends, that wouldn't leave her alone. Her friends, which believed in her and her abilities. With that thought, she exhaled loudly._  
_"Okay." She stood up raising a pile of papers from her desk. "Let's get started immediately."_

 _The rest gathered around her as she lost herself in thought. "First of all, should it be a he or she?"_  
_"If it's a girl it'll be easier to form bonds and gain the trust of everybody." Kirigiri spoke. "If we give her a calm and warm demeanour, it will be guaranteed that she will easily get along with the other students."_  
_"Okay, so a girl." Fukawa wrote on her piece of paper, drawing a few lines here and there. "Since she's a Hope's Peak student she needs a proper title, what should her talent be?"_

 _"Ooh, how about something geeky?" Yasuhiro exclaimed. "Nerdy girls are so cute!" He would've continued speaking if it wasn't for Asahina who elbowed him in the ribs._  
_"Nerdy? You mean the glasses-wearing, book-reading type of females?" Fukawa said un amused, raising her brow._  
_"No, but it may actually be a good idea." Makoto thought. "Like, something pleasant she would do in her free time, while excelling at it."_  
_"A gamer maybe?" Aoi suggested._  
_"Sounds fine." Togami decided._  
_"A gamer girl? How ordinary…" Fukawa voiced, sighing quietly, but wrote it nevertheless. "Now we get to the fun part - what should she be like?"_

_Ideas were thrown from everywhere. "She should be Intelligent." From Kyouko. "Calm." From Togami. "Kind." From Naegi. Fukawa was creating, giving life to a whole new person. How long has it been since the last time she properly used her talent? Her memory was a blur. In the times they lived in, there was no place for fantasies. Cruel reality tried destroying them everyday, so they had to remain vigilant for every danger that might occur. Still, losing herself in daydreams was the one thing that used to keep her on the edge of sanity. When the real world was too much to handle, fiction was her escape._

_Maybe that was why she felt sympathy for the girl that was eventually created. Conceived with Fukawa's own hands, the girl was a child of her mind. Komaru stayed late at night with her to finish the work refusing to sleep without her, despite Fukawa's request. Despite not admitting it however, Komaru's presence felt encouraging, even if she was yawning and rubbing her eyelids._

_When they finished, they sat back, exhausted yet fulfilled. Everyone else was already sleeping, so they were the only awake ones remaining in the office. Smiling tiredly at each other, they promised to remember the date._  
_March fourteenth._  
_The day Chiaki Nanami was born._


	2. The kids aren't alright.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone tries their best. Not all of them succeed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go.  
> Biggest thanks to Dani, for being the best beta in the world. Also very big thanks to Marina and Toffino, who gave me motivation to actually go through with it. You're all amazing.

Am I screaming?

Ah. Wait. No. I need to stop screaming.

Inhale. Exhale.

Don’t stop breathing, _don’t stop breathing_.

 

Hinata wakes up with a start, his skin caked in cold sweat. The nightmares plaguing his mind failed to leave him alone. How long had they lasted for now? Two? Three weeks? He had forgotten. Similar to the way he easily forgot about them.

If they didn’t keep reappearing that is.

Night after night, every time he closed his eyes, the image of a frightening man would appear before him. Which as far as Hinata knew, he couldn’t do anything about.

Finally regaining his composure, he carefully brings himself into a sitting position, his hands fumbling as he turns on a lamp by the edge of his bed. Suddenly, the cottage is filled with a dim light. ‘Good’ he thinks. ‘Everything is where it should be.’ A reassuring thing for someone aiming to keep their sanity as far from the edge as possible.

“I guess no more sleep for me tonight, huh.” He mutters, sighing deeply as he finally musters the strength to get out of bed. He surveys the room before eyeing his desk covered in research materials, only to look away promptly. No. I’m not dealing with that again right now.

Working on bringing the comatose students back was a… terrifying experience, to say the least. At this point, none of the sleeping students were brain-dead. Which, although fortunate, doesn’t change the fact that the rest of them still haven’t gotten any closer to finding a way to bring them back safely.

Then again, it wasn’t like their collected research was an easy guide on ‘how to wake people murdered in a rehabilitation simulator’ either.

Encyclopaedias. Medical Documents. Scientific journals containing various complicated theories. Everything he could need was right in front of him, but he just couldn’t seem to efficiently use any of them. He kept trying of course. Again and again, wanting to help out his comatose friends so badly.

But ‘it’ was frightening him.

The thing that always happened whenever he tried to research.

Every time he would look at information in any form, his mind would spontaneously erupt into chaos. Was he gaining knowledge? Losing knowledge? At this point he couldn’t even tell the difference. ‘It’s almost ironic’. He thinks to himself. Here he was, Hopes Peak Academy’s greatest achievement having problems simply reading a book.

‘No.’ He dismisses, scolding himself inwardly.‘ I shouldn’t be thinking about those things this way.’

What happened had happened. This was something he long ago accepted. But even so, he couldn’t help the odd sense of bitterness that remained every time he thought of his past self. The self that was no longer here. But it wasn’t…that man either. Hajime Hinata was Hajime Hinata. That was the version he decided to stick to. But why? In reality, he still didn’t know the first thing about what made him himself. His friends were just as clueless. They were sympathetic towards him sure, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that they were afraid of him. Afraid of what was unknown about the current Hajime Hinata. A fear he often shared with them.

Feeling sick of the closed walls, he gingerly makes his way out of the small cottage, closing the door quietly behind him. Of course it had to be in the deepest, calmest hours of the night that his mind became a mess. That ‘mess’ preventing him from sleeping thanks to those re-occurring nightmares and…him.

His image was most definitely a frightening sight. A sight that came back to haunt him, time and time again. Of a predatory look in glowing vermillion eyes, illuminating a pale face, hidden behind long, jet-black strands of hair.

‘But he is no longer here…right?’ Hinata thought, gazing down at his reflection in the pool’s water laced with chlorine. Annoyed at the sight of the reddish eyes looking at him from below, he grabs a small pebble beside him, hurdling it violently at his own image.

Stupid pool.

As he begins to walk in the direction of the cafeteria, feelings of guilt and helplessness begin to wash over him. He should be capable of doing what needed to be done – bringing his friends back to consciousness. In fact he should have brought his friends back to consciousness a long time ago. So then why? Why couldn’t he figure it out? Why was it that he couldn’t even read a single book anymore, without feeling like his mind was falling apart?

The distance between him and his only goal grew larger by the day. At this point there were doubts they would even succeed at all. But even so, there was no way he was going to give up. _Remember what Naegi said._

Upon opening the door to the cafeteria, he immediately stiffened. Someone was already here. The aroma of tea wafting through the air and soft flickering light from the kitchen being dead giveaways of that fact. He continued with caution, stealthily making his way toward the kitchen, only to find it completely empty.

“I am guessing you cannot sleep either?”

He turns around hastily, only to find the heir to the Novoselic throne standing in front of him adorned in a grey oversized hoodie, her hair short and unkempt, welcoming him with a warm smile before rubbing her tired, sleep deprived eyes.

“Oh, it’s you.” Hinata replies, the relief clearly showing on his face. “Sorry…I just… didn’t expect anyone to be up at this hour.”

“It is truly a surprise to me also.” Sonia shrugs, walking past him gracefully before sitting on the kitchen counter. “I take it you are having a tough night?”

“One of many.” Hinata answers, taking a seat next to her on the counter, an uncomfortable silence washing over the both of them. Fidgeting slightly, she looks around nervously before coming to a decision.

“I shall prepare some tea.” She declares, standing up as she begins to search the kitchen, gathering what she needs in order to do so. He says nothing in response, deciding against it when he observes how much her hands are shaking, having already learned to not disturb her when she’s focused.

“Here you are.” She hands him a cup. “You are sitting here in nothing but a T-shirt despite it being so cold. Therefore, I concur that this will do you some good. It will warm you up.”

“Thanks.” He agrees, taking the tea from her hands as he takes a sip. “So…why are you here?”

She shakes her head, taking a sip of her tea. “I have been rolling in bed for the past four hours, unable to sleep. Only to find out that doing so is pointless, which is why I am now here… How about you?”

“I woke up some time ago.” He says, averting her gaze. “I …had some bad dreams. Again.” “You have not mentioned having nightmares before.” She replies, pulling her knees under her chin. “Would you like to talk about them?” He sighs deeply, his gaze fixed to the floor. “There’s nothing to talk about, really.”

“But they bother you, do they not?” She insists. “They are stopping you from falling asleep when one needs it most.”

He gave no response. It was true that sleep was something he was short of recently. But considering he only slept three to four hours a night normally, the matter was more of an understatement than an issue at this point.

“So.” She asks, straightening her back. “What nightmares do you have?”

“You don’t want to know.” He retorts, cutting her off.

“But of course I want to know.” She insists further. “It is clearly troubling you. If something is troubling you, than I do not mind if it troubles me as well.”

“No.” He interrupts, tensing slightly, his face showing clear signs of discomfort. Knowing that she means no offence, he relaxes a little before deeply sighing. “I just don’t want to talk about it.”

“I see.” She mutters. Her eyes fixed on the floor. “…I am sorry.”

The silence returns once more. Soon enough feelings of guilt begin to wash over him. Sonia only wants to help after all. It’s not as if she’s to blame for any of the nightmares he has every night.

“Maybe you are overworking yourself?” She asks, breaking the silence once more. “I mean you are always just sitting with those papers from dawn to dusk. And… I am sorry, but they have not proven to be of any use thus far.”

Upon hearing this, he slowly clenches his fists. As much as he wants to deny it, he knows that she is right. Not that it makes her comment any less irritating.

“Well thanks Sonia, though it’s not like Kazuichi running around babysitting a child is that great a help either.”

“I did not mean it in that way!” She protests, raising her hands in defence. “I am just saying that you are not going to bring the others any good if you are as exhausted as you are now.”

‘There might be some truth to that.’ He thinks eyes fixed on the ceiling.

“Please consider a few days of break. Grant yourself these extra hours of sleep. It will do only good.”

“How do you know? What certainty do you have that I’ll go to sleep and won’t woke up screaming after another one of those nightmares?”

Sonia’s expression darkens. “I see.” Descending herself from the counter she stood up in front of Hinata. “In that case, I am short of advice.” She said, placing her cup in the sink and making her way out of the cafeteria. Her tone wasn’t angry. It was… helpless. Like she desperately hoped to comfort him, but was not able to do so no matter how much she tried.

Hajime sighed.

Finishing the tea after a while, he ultimately decided to return to his cottage too. With grim thoughts still upon his mind, he washes both of the cups (Otherwise Kuzuryuu would scold them for being awake so late and leaving a mess.) and walks down the stairs, only to find Masaru near the game consoles.

“Daimon?” He eyes him, getting irritated at this point. “And what are you doing here at this hour?”

“Couldn’t sleep. Souda snores like a bear.” The boy says, not even thinking about raising his eyes from the game.

“You too? There’s so many of us here, why don’t we throw a goddamn party.”

Masaru giggled. “You cursed.”

“Anyway, why didn’t Sonia say anything? Or you just ignored her, that may be the case too.”

“I didn’t even see her.” Masaru pouts. “I just got here. Anyway, if she told me off, wouldn’t she have to tell herself and you too?”

“This is not the same.”

“You’re not sleepin’, cuz you’re scared of something, am I right? So it is the same.”

Hinata sits next to him. “If you talk to me about what you’re scared of, I’ll let you free.”

Hearing the sound of a game over, Hinata looks up at the smaller one sitting next to him. Masaru has a stubborn expression, his stubborness softened with a sudden doubt.

“I don’t want them here tomorrow.” He finally says, deciding that he has no better choice.

“You mean the Future Foundation? You said that you don’t like the visitations, but you’ve never mentioned they bother you that much.”

“If it was Naegi coming, it’d be fine, he’s cool. Even the blonde guy, even though he has a stick up his butt.”

Hinata wasn’t sure about if it was alright for a kid to say such things about people, but he couldn’t deny that truer words about Togami have not yet been spoken.

“But they aren’t comin’. This time the demons are comin’ and I really don’t want them here.”

“Demons?” Hinata repeats, baffled a little bit.

“The one with glasses and her friend.”

“Oh, you mean Fukawa-san and… Komaru? Komaru seems nice. I mean, I understand your skepticism towards Fukawa, she is quite… specific, but calling her a demon is a little harsh, don’t you think?”

“No, it’s just… she knows me from my past. And I don’t like my past.”

This is the moment Hinata realized how little they really know about this little guy. Granted, they were kind of forced to keep him on the island, with Future Foundation mentioning something about turning the life support off if they don’t agree, but still. He wished they did a better job looking out for him. They were young, but he was still a child. A child that needed support.

“I can assure you, none of us here likes our past either, but the thing is to keep focused on the future. The past can’t hurt you. It’s what you’ll do from this point on that matters.”

“Maybe you’re right. But still, I left them out there and they are there now, not in the past. What if they hate me?” They, from what he learnt before, were Masaru’s friends he sometimes mentioned, but refused to talk more about.

“There was nothing you could do. There’s still nothing you can do. And it’s not your fault. It’s just how things are.” He ruffled boy’s hair gently. “Stop it before you make yourself feel even worse. Time to sleep.”

“You crazy or what, I’m not going back there. Souda is too loud and it stinks there.”

Hinata stands up. “You can sleep in my place tonight, if you want.”

“Really?” Masaru exclaims, his eyes lit up.

“Shush. Don’t be so loud, it’s early and people are sleeping.”

“Which people?”

“I don’t know, but some probably are. Anyway, if you don’t quiet yourself, forget about sleeping in my cottage.”

“Okay.” Masaru reluctantly agreed. “But I want an extra blanket. It’s been rainin’ all day and it’s freezin’.”

 


End file.
